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In the 'House' of Hugh Laurie (l.),
count on 'Black Adder' being a favorite.

A lot of the Extras - my term for TV's hidden in-jokes - unearthed by Daily News readers this time involved sly winks from one TV show to another, or to a movie. Here are some of the more amazing, or amusing, cross-references found in recent TV series. On a recent episode of "House" on Fox, Hugh Laurie's Dr. House was flipping through his TiVo list of recorded programs, looking for something to watch.

"All episodes of 'Monster Trucks' and 'New Yankee Workshop,' but there was one other saved show," notes Ken Dashow, home watching "House" after his afternoon deejay duties on Q104.3-FM. He and Barry Jacobs of Brooklyn independently caught the single entry of "Black Adder."

"That was, of course," wrote Jacobs, "the hysterical British sitcom in which Hugh Laurie co-starred with Rowan Atkinson."

Jeffrey Woolf of New York City caught a really obscure Extra in a recent hour of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy." The episode guest-starred Leisha Hailey, who plays Alice on Showtime's "The L Word," as a patient suffering from flesh-eating bacteria.

Woolf notes that in the next hospital bed was a dying, unresponsive woman, and when her friends were asked if there was anyone else they could contact, one of them made a reference to the city and focus of "The L Word." As Woolf recalls her Extra dialogue: "You should call her daughter, Alice. She lives in San Francisco, she is a lesbian," she says. Daytime TV has its Extra moments, too. On NBC's "Passions," Jacie Orr of Brooklyn noted two of the characters were searching on the Internet for the whereabouts of Miguel. The result of their search was an occupation ("Apparently, he's been doing some yard work") and a familiar address: Wisteria Lane.

"This, of course, is a reference to actor Jesse Metcalfe, who originated the role of Miguel, and left to enjoy some fame as the hunky boy-toy gardener of Gabrielle's affections on 'Desperate Housewives.'"

Champion class Extra hunter Toby O'Brien of New York City scores another one, thanks to the finale of "Arrested Development" on Fox, which featured a guest appearance by Richard Belzer as undercover officer John Munch.

"This marked Munch's ninth appearance in the TV Universe," O'Brien wrote, which, as he notes correctly, makes Belzer the easy record-holder of Actor Appearing in the Most Series as the Same Character.

O'Brien's impressively chronological tally includes "Homicide: Life on the Street," "Law & Order," "The X-Files," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "The Beat," "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" and "Arrested Development." He reaches nine by including "Homicide: The Movie," but that's a bit of a cheat. The No. 9 is reached, though, if you add in Munch's cartoon appearance, with Belzer providing the voice, in a guest spot on "The Simpsons."

Originally published on May 15, 2006